The Ombudsman's final decision
Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about Ms X’s access rights to her property as this is a matter for the courts.
The complaint
Ms X complains about the Council writing to her to instruct her not to drive across the verge to access her property. Ms X says her deeds grant her such access and that as such, the Council should construct a cross over to facilitate this.
The Ombudsman’s role and powers
The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone could take the matter to court. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to go to court. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(c), as amended)
How I considered this complaint
I considered information provided by the complainant.
I considered the Ombudsman’s Assessment Code.
My assessment
Ms X complains the Council has written to her to advise that under the Highways Act 1980, she does not have the right to drive across the grass verge/footpath to park on her property as she does not have a properly installed vehicle crossover. Ms X complains the Council has not responded to her questions about definitions of terms contained within the Highways Act 1980.
Miss X considers she has access rights to her property, as set out in her deeds, and that as such the Council should construct a vehicle cross over to facilitate this.
The issues Miss X complains about relate to legal rights of access and interpretation of the law. These are matters which only a court can rule on; we do not have the remit to do so. It is unlikely therefore that we could achieve any meaningful outcome for Miss X by investigating and it is reasonable to expect Miss X to raise these matters in court.
For these reasons, we will not investigate.
Final decision
We will not investigate Miss X’s complaint because we can achieve no meaningful outcome for her as only the courts can determine what legal rights Miss X has.
Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman